Goldman estimated that 75% of that revenue, $8.9 billion, came from Web searches made using iPhones and iPads.

That means that, at most, Google generated $3 billion from searches made on Android devices in 2014.

$3 billion is a paltry amount compared to Google's overall business, which generated $66 billion in the last twelve months. For further context, consider that Facebook generated more than $2.65 billion in mobile ad revenues during the fourth quarter of 2014 alone.

It makes you wonder: Will Android ever become a big business?BII

On the one hand, it may not matter. Android has effectively destroyed Microsoft's Windows hegemony. And it prevented Apple from running away with the phone market the way the iPod ran away with the MP3 player market.

On the other hand, it has ~1 billion users. Typically when a product hits a billion users, it figures out a good monetization plan. It's unclear Google has any plan to make big money from Android. That would be fine if, as 5 years ago, everything was going great for Google. But, today, things are a bit more tricky.

We're taking a closer look at Google, which seems to be stuck in something of a rut. We'd like to hear from Googlers and ex-Googlers. Email nicholas@businessinsider.com or jdonfro@businessinsider.com